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Ekiti govt warns PDP against politicisation of insecurity

The Ekiti State government on Saturday warned the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against undue politicisation of matters bordering on the security of lives and property in the state.

The Senior Special Assistant on Inter-party Relations to the Governor, Sam Oluwalana, made the call during a chat with journalists in Ado-Ekiti.

Oluwalana appealed to the party to refrain from comments that could people the impression it as mocking victims of insecurity in the state.

The governor’s aide was reacting to the PDP criticising the government over the recent spate of insecurity in the state.

The party had in a statement issued by its Publicity Secretary in Ekiti, Raphael Adeyanju, accused the state government of having an agreement with the bandits killing and kidnapping people on daily basis in the state.

The party lamented that Ekiti, hitherto regarded as the most peaceful state in the South-West, had turned into a haven of bandits and political thugs.

The statement read: “Time has come for stakeholders in the state to confront Governor Kayode Fayemi and ask him whether or not he has an understanding with these marauding bandits not to touch them.”

In his reaction however, Oluwalana said the politicisation of the state security challenges will do no one any good.

He said: “For PDP to have politicised this type of issue, where life was lost, showed that it is irresponsible and lazy. The issue of insecurity is one that affects the entire country, and Ekiti is not an exemption.

“I want to say that the governor is working hard to secure the lives of citizens and we should all join hands with him to ensure that criminals are exposed, rather than making political comments capable of heating up the system.”

Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State has suspended the ongoing teachers’ recruitment exercise over the economic crisis posed by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The governor directed an immediate refund of money paid by successful candidates in the recruitment exercise conducted by the State Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM).

Mr Babatunde Abegunde, Chairman of TESCOM, who made this known in Ado Ekiti on Thursday, March 18, said the directive was due to the commitment of the governor to the general welfare of the people in the state and the need not to make new entrants into the public service suffer unduly.

Ripples Nigeria learned that about 100 candidates may have been affected by the directive.

Abegunde explained that monies to be refunded covered those paid by the candidates for the purchase of the Teaching Service Manual, Service Record, and Job Cards among others during the documentation stage.

He said that contrary to insinuations in some quarters, the state government was very fair in the recruitment exercise, but regretted that the pandemic and the attendant economic downturn, as well as the ENDSARS protest, stalled the process.

Abegunde recalled that the commission commenced the process by mid-2020, adding that the target could not be met because of the lockdown and other effects of the global pandemic and other reasons.

He explained that TESCOM projected the recruitment exercise which consisted of both written examination and interviews in phases for administrative and economic convenience.

According to him, the process of appointing the first batch of 400 teachers started in October 2019 and was concluded in November 2020.

He added that the process for recruiting the second batch of 100 teachers commenced immediately after the first set of appointees were posted to schools with the invitation of shortlisted candidates for documentation.

The TESCOM chairman said that letters of appointment would have been issued immediately after documentation, stressing that it was however not feasible for the reasons stated above.

He stressed that the governor would not subscribe to employing workers that the state would not be able to promptly pay their salaries.

He, however, assured that the recruitment process would continue as soon as the state finances improved, to accommodate new entrants into its workforce.